Cardinals guard Jonathan Cooper has broken leg

Posted by Mike Wilkening on August 25, 2013, 2:02 AM EDT

AP

The Cardinals have lost their first-round pick indefinitely.

Rookie left guard Jonathan Cooper suffered a broken leg in the third quarter of Saturday night’s exhibition loss to San Diego, coach Bruce Arians said, according to multiple reports. Per multiple media outlets, Cooper has a broken fibula.

Cooper was injured when he was blocking downfield on a running play. As running back Alfonso Smith was being tackled, the collision took out Cooper, who was not facing the play.

If the Cardinals believe there’s a chance Cooper could heal in time to return in 2013, the club could place him on injured reserve with the option to activate him later in the campaign. According to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com, Arians indicated he hopes Cooper will be able to play this season.

Cooper was one of several key Cardinals who left Saturday’s game with injuries. Arians, per the club’s official Twitter feed, said that running back Rashard Mendenhall will have tests on his right knee. Also, nose tackle Dan Williams and tight end Rob Housler have ankle injuries, with Housler’s injury a high-ankle sprain, Arians said, according to the club.

That is terrible news. The line looked much impoved in ru and pass protection. So many young lineman catch bad breaks getting rolled up on. Hope he can heal and play because Cards can be a force this year.

If Jon Cooper only has a broken fibula, he absolutely will be back this season. Broken bones are a very straightforward time table. It’s around 6 weeks for a cast, and then he’ll probably need 2-3 weeks to feel good on it again and get some strength back. He’ll be back by week 6 at the earliest, but for sure will be back by week 10 after their bye week.

I blame the Cardinals RB (Alfonso Smith). Part of your duty as an RB is to be aware of your blockers. Smith dove right into the leg of Cooper as he went down on his run. Lineman block all out for you with no protection from blindside roll-ups…the least an RB can do is keep their eyes peeled and avoid friendly fire.

I hate being a Cardinals fan. We can never get a break, no pun intended. Even when we make it to the Superbowl. Nobody will ever respect us because when we make a move it turns out bad and when something good happens to us we get snakebit. It’s not even anyone’s fault. I know this new generation of ownership wants to win badly and they are spending the money and trying. Cooper is a good kid and a great talent at a position where it’s badly needed. I’m so frustrated!

Well last season it was the Tackles who went down leading to all the focus on OL first round. Now this Cooper goes down and he hasn’t had injury history. It happens and no not all Cards fans believe they were contending yet. What sucks is ow hell still be a rookie next season as well.